“I learned to handle the pressure a little bit more,” Evans said last week on the UFC 88 teleconference. “I learned to relax because when you first get in there with the first big high-profile fight, you just overthink a lot of things … then you make the fight bigger than what it is.”

MSU wrestling head coach Tom Minkel said preparation relieves stress and Evans is more prepared for this fight than any he’s had.

“He gets into these final few days before he fights and he can look back at his preparation and know that he is as ready as he can be,” Minkel said.

“And that will alleviate some of the stress he’s dealt with in the past.”

But after drawing with Tito Ortiz at UFC 73 this past July and beating Michael Bisping by split decision at UFC 78 in November, Evans has been inactive. He was originally scheduled to fight Liddell in June, but the fight fell through when Liddell suffered a right hamstring tear.

But Evans doesn’t see the inactivity as a negative.

“(Training is) nothing like real-life competition, but then at the same time, being in the gym helps you brush up on all the things you haven’t been able to freshen up on before,” Evans said.

His opponent, Liddell, has been out of action himself since December. Known as a heavy hitter with good wrestling skills, he presents a tough challenge for Evans, as Liddell has made a career out of knocking out wrestlers who couldn’t take him down.

Evans said he plans to stay out of this predicament by imposing his will on Liddell.

“Chuck has been killing these wrestlers, so we’ll see what I can do,” Evans said.

Minkel said Evans’ boxing background will help him in this fight.

“He’s probably a little more well-rounded than most wrestlers and that will serve him well this weekend,” Minkel said.

After reeling off seven consecutive victories, Liddell (21-5 career) is 1-2 in his last three fights. With a win against Evans potentially being the only thing separating him from another crack at the light heavyweight championship, Liddell, who has been with the UFC since 1998, is not planning on letting Evans get ahead of him on his path back to the title.

“That’s what I’m here for,” Liddell said. “I have to go against young guys now and it’s great that these guys are coming up and all the talent’s coming in and it’s just proving that I can still beat them. It’s fun for me.”

Liddell admitted Evans is “hard to hit,” but is looking to see if he can catch him.

“I’m not the type of person who will go in there and worry about getting hit or worry about somebody’s power,” Evans said. “I respect his power, but at the same time, when you sit there and you’re like, ‘oh my God, he can hit hard,’ that’s when you get hit hard.”

Whatever the end result might be, Evans said it is an honor to fight Liddell.

“It’s great to be fighting somebody like that because it shows how far I’ve come along in the sport and you know this is the fight I can’t lose.”